Dr Catherine Phipps
Lecturer in Sport Management
About
Catherine is a sociologist whose research focuses predominantly on gender relations and LGBTQ+ inclusion in the sport context. She gained a first-class degree in BA (Hons) Physical Education and Sport Coaching (York St. John University, 2012) before achieving a distinction grade in MSc Sociology of Sport and Exercise (University of Chester, 2013). She completed her PhD at the University of Greenwich in 2019, with her thesis exploring equity and inclusion within the university sport context. While completing her PhD, she was an Adjunct Professor at Syracuse University London and Foundation for International Education respectively, teaching study abroad students predominantly from the USA. After completing her PhD, she started her career as a Senior Lecturer in Sport at Bishop Grosseteste University in Lincoln before spending several years as a Senior Lecturer and Course Leader at Solent University in Southampton. She joined the University of Chichester in 2024 as a Lecturer in Sport Management and is currently a Senior Fellow of Advance HE.
Professional
At the University of Chichester, Catherine has responsibility for several modules including Critical Issues in Health Promotion, Marketing and Sales in Sport, Managing People in Sport Business, Sport and Social Justice, Sport Finance, Strategic Planning for Sport, and Delivering and Consuming Fitness and Lifestyle.
Publications
Afrouzeh, A., Phipps, C., Pope, S., Pourkiani, M., & Boroumand, M. R. (in press). “Do they really let girls into the stadium?” The development of women’s football fan identities in Iran. World Leisure Journal.
Velija, P., & Phipps, C. (in press). Gender knowledge and gender relations on higher education sport and physical education courses. In: J. A. B Morales (Ed.) Gender Disparities in Education. London: Routledge.
Velija, P., Phipps, C., Davis, N., & Noret, N. (2024) Evaluation of a Peer-Led School Based Intervention on Violence Against Women and Girls. Report. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12519167
Afroozeh, M.S., Phipps, C., Afrouzeh, A., Alipour Asiri, Z., & Safari Jafarloo, H. R. (2024). The sport and exercise experiences of physically disabled women in Iran: shame, stereotyping, and Goffman’s stigma. Disability & Society. Doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2024.2328560
Phipps, C., Afrouzeh, A., Pourkiani, M., Oftadeh-Moghadam, S., & Sajjadi, N. (2023). “Iranians on one side, immigrants on the other!”: Socio-cultural constraints to sport participation amongst Afghan women migrants and refugees. Leisure Studies. Doi.org/10.1080/02614367.2023.2280024
Davis, L., Phipps, C., & Pope, S. (2023). The impact of Fallon Sherrock and the increasing prominence of women within professional darts events: A call for future research. Managing Sport and Leisure. Doi.org/10.1080/23750472.2023.2229328
Afroozeh, M.S., Phipps, C., Afrouzeh, A., Mehri, A., & Alipourasiri, Z. (2023) “The spectators ask, is it a boy or a girl? What is it?”: Cultural cisgenderism and trans men’s sporting experiences in Iran. International Review for the Sociology of Sport. Doi.org/10.1177/10126902231162270
Velija, P., & Phipps, C. (2023) “That’s where you start to think like, does anyone actually listen to or watch women’s sport?” Gender regimes and students’ experiences on higher education sport courses. International Review for the Sociology of Sport. 58(2), 233-252. Doi.org/10.1177/10126902221097824
Phipps, C. (2022) “You belong in the kitchen”: Social media, virtual manhood acts, and women strength sport athletes’ experiences of gender-based violence online. Feminist Media Studies. Doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2022.2158898
Phipps, C. (2022) “For some people they’d never be able to tick all those boxes”: Exclusion of trans and non-binary identities in university sport policy. In G. L. Witcombe & E. Peel (Eds.) Gender Diversity and Sport: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Increasing Inclusivity. London, United Kingdom: Routledge. Gender Diversity and Sport: Interdisciplinary Perspectives – 1st Editi (routledge.com)
Phipps, C., & Blackall, C.J. (2021) ‘I wasn’t allowed to join the boys’: The ideology of cultural cisgenderism in a UK school. Pedagogy, Culture & Society. Doi.org/10.1080/14681366.2021.2000012
Phipps, C. (2021) Leisure Studies Association Annual Conference 2021. Leisure identities, health, and wellbeing: Conference review. International Journal of Spa and Wellness. 5(1), 91-94. Doi.org/10.1080/24721735.2021.1991649
Phipps, C. (2021) Thinking beyond the binary: Barriers to trans* participation in university sport. International Review for the Sociology of Sport. 56(1), 81-96. Doi.org/10.1177/1012690219889621
Phipps, C., Khomutova, A., & Channon, A.C. (2021) Coaching female combat athletes: Creating positive environments for women and girls. In: J. Wallace & J. Lambert (Eds.) Sport Coaching with Diverse Populations: Theory and Practice (47-59). London, United Kingdom: Routledge. Sport Coaching with Diverse Populations: Theory and Practice – 1st Edi (routledge.com)
Phipps, C. (2020) ‘We already do enough around equality and diversity’: Action taken by student union officers to promote LGBT+ inclusion in university sport. Sociology of Sport Journal, 37(4), 310-318. Doi.org/10.1123/ssj.2019-0119
Moghadam, S., Phipps, C., Thelwell, R., & Weston. N. (2020) Navigating the rocky road: Elite female boxers’ perceptions of their boxing journey. Martial Arts Studies, 9, 71-85. Doi.org/10.18573/mas.100
Phipps, C. (2019) ‘They were constantly harassing us and a lot of it was to do with our sexuality’: Masculinities, heteronormativity, and homophobia in university-based sport. In: R. Magrath, J. Cleland & E. Anderson (Eds.) The Palgrave Handbook of Masculinity and Sport (359-378). Basingstoke, United Kingdom: Palgrave Macmillan. The Palgrave Handbook of Masculinity and Sport | SpringerLink
Channon, A., & Phipps, C. (2017) Pink gloves still give black eyes: Exploring ‘alternative’ femininity in women’s combat sports. Martial Arts Studies, 3, 24-37. Doi.org/10.18573/j.2017.10093
Piedra, J., Ramírez-Macías, G., Ries, R., Rodríguez-Sánchez, A.R., & Phipps, C. (2015) Homophobia and heterosexism: Spanish physical education teachers’ perceptions. Sport in Society, 8(1), 42-55. Doi.org/10.1080/17430437.2015.1096257
Mierzwinski, M., & Phipps, C. (2015) ‘’I’m not the type of person who does yoga’’: Women, ‘hard’ martial arts, and the quest for exciting significance. In: A. Channon & C.R. Matthews (Eds.) Global Perspectives on
Women in Combat Sports. Women Warriors around the World (237-252). Basingstoke, United Kingdom: Palgrave Macmillan. Global Perspectives on Women in Combat Sports | SpringerLink
Research
Catherine’s research focuses on gender relations, gender identity, and LGBTQ+ inclusion in the sport and physical education contexts. She is part of a team conducting research in Iran on gender equity in sport and was an invited keynote speaker for the 8th National Student Congress on Sport Science at Shahid Beheshti University in May 2024. With co-researchers, she recently won a bid through the Leisure Studies Association to extend research on women’s access to football stadia (a ban that was recently lifted) as a form of activism for women in Iran.
Her wider research focuses on transgender inclusion in sport, the extent to which gender knowledge is embedded into the curricula on higher education sport degrees, and – outside of the sport context – violence against women and girls in educational settings. She is one of the founders of the Critical Pedagogies in Sport Network, a space for academics to share, collaborate and discuss teaching and learning in higher education, and is in the process of co-editing a book which brings together evidence-based research on critical pedagogies in sport in the higher education context. She has also presented at over 25 national and international conferences and chaired the Leisure Studies Association Annual Conference in 2021.
PhD
Catherine is currently accepting PhD students and is particularly interested in candidates with research broadly focussing on gender, gender identity, sexuality, or violence against women and girls. She is currently supervising one PhD student (Solent University) whose research explores sexual harassment in higher education.
